danielray Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I occasionally browse through various patent filings (I do suppose I need a life) and stumbled across an interesting patent that was recently assigned earlier in the year. The patent itself was rather unremarkable, just some tweaks on snare mechanisms, etc., but what was interesting is that the patent assignee is Hoshino Gakki Mfg. Co., Ltd., the parent company of TAMA. Patent number: 7223910 Filing date: Dec 23, 2004 Issue date: May 29, 2007 Inventor: Masahiro Shimada Assignee: Hoshino Gakki Mfg. Co., Ltd. While this is certainly only a patent application and assignment, it does indicate a reasonable amount of research and development on the part of the company, which does imply that they are, at the very least, exploring the possibility. With more and more new companies entering the market and exploring the possibility... maybe the sky isn't falling in drum corps after all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted September 30, 2007 Author Share Posted September 30, 2007 Found another that was just issued only a couple of weeks ago. Patent number: 7265287 Filing date: March 23, 2005 Issue date: September 4, 2007 Inventor: Masahiro Shimada Assignee: Hoshino Gakki Mfg. Co., Ltd. Support device for percussion instruments In a support device for a set of marching tenor drums arrayed in an arc shape of at least four drums, the device being held on the body of a player, two or three consecutive drums of the array, form at least one group. The device includes a holding mechanism for keeping the positions of the drums in each group constant relative to drums within the same group, and a turnable linking mechanism for linking the group and drums adjoining the group to be turnable relative to each other. Interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted September 30, 2007 Author Share Posted September 30, 2007 Another not yet issued... Patent application number: 20060081114 Filing date: April 20, 2006 Issue date: pending Inventor: Masahiro Shimada Assignee: Hoshino Gakki Mfg. Co., Ltd. Marching bass drum supporting structure, marching bass drum, and carrier A carrier for holding a bass drum with two first connection mechanisms and one second connection mechanism. The second connection mechanism includes a connection member, which is arranged on the bass drum, and a slide member, which is arranged on the carrier. The distal end of the slide member is engaged with the connection member. Each first connection mechanism includes a hook receptacle, which is arranged on the bass drum and open in a downward direction, and a hook, which is arranged on the carrier and inserted in the receptacle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Maybe they're figuring "if Dynasty can sell drums, it can't be that hard for an actual drum company to do it." B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Am I reading the bass carrier one correctly? it looks like a version of the snare carrier.. What's Tama's pricing, durability, and customer service like compared to the other companies (re other percussion, not marching) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Maybe they're figuring "if Dynasty can sell drums, it can't be that hard for an actual drum company to do it." B) Actually, it reads more like they're working on hardware improvements, not the entire drum itself...but it'd be interesting to see another player on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenorsForWorldDomination Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I do believe Tama abandoned the marching line many moons ago. In the drum set world, Tama is known for high class drums, but they are probably the most heaviest drums out there. Heavy, bulky, but very durable hardware. As for pricing they are less than Yamaha, but slightly more than Pearl for your typical high end maple 5 piece. But, recently, Tama has taken a HUGE liking to drums made out of Bubinga (African Rosewood), which no one else is doing right now. They also have a Birch/Bubinga hybrid shelled kit that is the most amazing sounding set of drums you will hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumnman2004 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 Maybe they're figuring "if Dynasty can sell drums, it can't be that hard for an actual drum company to do it." B) "DOH" I heard that Tom Float was speaking to people from Tama about a line of marching drums, and I do know for a fact that Mapex is displaying their line of marching drums at this winters NAMM convention. Oh great ! Now we'll have 5 companies whos drums sound exactly the same ! The snare unit patent looks much like the old Rogers Dyna-Sonic snare guard to me. Everyone trying to reinvent the wheel...don't you think ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenorsForWorldDomination Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I'm not too keen on the Mapex stuff coming out. They will be cheaper, but they look like they borrowed hardware designs from Yamaha, Pearl and Dynasty. They should stick to drum sets. If they use the Saturn shells from the drum sets, they could provide a cool sound. Walnut/Maple mixed shells. These drum sets have the widest tuning range out of any drum on the market. They just refuse to choke at high tunings and sound flappy when tuned overly low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumnman2004 Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 I'm not too keen on the Mapex stuff coming out. They will be cheaper, but they look like they borrowed hardware designs from Yamaha, Pearl and Dynasty. They should stick to drum sets.If they use the Saturn shells from the drum sets, they could provide a cool sound. Walnut/Maple mixed shells. These drum sets have the widest tuning range out of any drum on the market. They just refuse to choke at high tunings and sound flappy when tuned overly low. I'm sure they'll sound pretty much like Pearls ! They're made in the same factory ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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